Gothamist Site Officially Relaunched Under WNYC

NEW YORK — It's official: Gothamist is back from the dead. The popular New York City news website officially relaunched Thursday morning under the banner of WNYC after its abrupt shutdown last fall.

"Well would you look at that: My favorite NYC news blog is back in business," Jim Schachter, WNYC's vice president for news, said in a tweet.

The public radio station acquired Gothamist in February from its former owner, the billionaire businessman Joe Ricketts. Ricketts shuttered Gothamist and DNAinfo, the network of hyperlocal news sites he also owned, in November after their New York staffers voted to unionize.

Gothamist staffers have been publishing new stories since early April, but Thursday marked the official return of the full site. A deep dive into how Mayor Bill de Blasio's crackdown on electric bicycles impacts immigrant workers marked the occasion.

Readers on Thursday can also expect an update on the MTA's planned L train shutdown, a roundup of the city's best new pizza, a look at a new Midtown East food hall and a piece on "tongue-in-cheek German expressions for uniquely NY moments," WNYC spokesman David Cotrone said in an email.

Also in the pipe for this week and next are an interview with cartoonist Roz Chast, a look at marijuana legalizaiton in New Jersey and a video asking why drivers honk so much, especially near the Holland Tunnel, Cotrone said.

WNYC also has a presence on the site. Some stories bear the byline of transportation reporter Stephen Nessen, and there's a row of links to featured pieces from the radio station.

Led by Jen Chung and Jake Dobkin, its original co-founders, Gothamist has brought back several of its former staffers, including Editor-in-Chief John Del Signore, Editorial Director Jen Carlson, editor Chris Robbins and frequent freelancer Scott Lynch.

"So far, eight former Gothamist staffers have rejoined the team to bring Gothamist back, and with your support, we hope to make Gothamist a more expansive, resilient publication," the site's staff wrote in a Thursday morning note on the relaunch.

Two donors, one of whom is still anonymous, funded WNYC's acquisition of Gothamist and DNAinfo's archives, though the latter site has not been resurrected.

A Kickstarter campaign has raised nearly $138,000 to support the relaunch, though neither Gothamist nor WNYC have spelled out exactly how the money will be spent.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the surname of WNYC’s vice president for news. It is Schachter, not Schacter.

(Lead image: Photo from Shutterstock / TierneyMJ)